Charles e



(No Model.)

0. E. SCRIBNER. AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC DOOR CLOSER.

No. 599,800. Patented Mar. 1,1898.

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D .Z' 1/- i 4.2 1 255 5 g UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

CHARLES E. SCRIBNER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC DOOR-CLOSER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 599,800, dated March 1, 1898. Application filed June 3, 1896. Serial No. 594,070. (No model-l To all whom, itvnay concern.

Be it known that 1, CHARLES E. SCRIBNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Automatic Electric Door- Closers, (Case No. 423,) of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for automatically closing doors or shutters, particularly as a means of protection against fire. Its object is to provide a device for permitting the closing of the door devoid of moving parts and complicated mechanism and so constructed that the failure of any part of the system to operate shall insure the closing of the door.

A subordinate feature of the invention is designed to permit manual or automatic release of the door and also the release of a number of doors singly or simultaneously.

I am aware that it has been common heretofore to provide electrically or thermally operated latches or catches for permitting the closure of doors when the thermostats controlling the mechanism were affected by heat, and I am aware also that the electrical appliances have been used in both open-circuit and closed-circuit systems. The common defeet in such apparatus has been, however, that in the event of injury to the mechanism by fire or any othercause beforethe closing of the door it was likely to fail in its operation and thus defeat the end for which it was provided. I

The present invention consists, essentially, in the combination, with the door or shutter, of an armatureof magnetic material, a fixed electromagnet in position to hold the said armature when the door is opened, and a circuit for the excitement of' the magnet, with suitable means for controlling the current through the magnet.

The invention includes also a switch in the vicinity of the electromagnet closed automatically to complete the circuit through the magnet in the act of opening the door and bring ing the armature into contact with the magnet for the purpose of preventing waste of energy. It further involves a system of circuits for several such electromagnets with both manually and thermally operated switches controlling each electromagnet and manually and thermally operated switches controlling an entire group of magnets.

. Obviously the failure of the current-supply, a defect in the magnet, or any mechanical injury to the magnet or other part of the device would inevitably cause the release of the door, and thus could not prevent the attainment of the object for which the mechanismwas provided.

A further advantage of this device is that the door may be manually closed by merely exerting sufficient force to detach the armature from the electromagnet or may be held open by placing the armature again in contact with the magnet.

My improvement is shown in the accom panying drawings.

Figure 1 of the drawings represents a door with the electromagnetic apparatus for holding it open in a simple circuit. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing several electromagnets, supposed to be applied to different doors, in a system of circuits such that each door may be controlled separately or the controlled together.

In Fig. 1, a represents a wall through which the door-opening is out. A hinged door I) is adapted to close this opening. A spring I), fixed at one extremity to the door and at the other to the wall, tends to close the door. On its rear face the door 19 carries an armature c, of soft iron. An electromagnet d is fixed to a bracket on the wall in such a position that the armature 0 shall close against its poles when the door is fully open. The same bracket group may be which carries the electromagnet carries also a pair of insulated switch-springs e e, the latter of which is constructed to separate from the former until pressed against it by the opened door, The magnet and the switchsprings c and e are included serially in a circuit 1, including a battery f or other source of current. The continuity of the circuit is controlled by a closed-circuit thermostat g and also by a manually-operative switch It. The thermostat g may, if desired, be placed in the doorway, so that it may be opened in the event of a current of heated air passing through the doorway. The switch h may be placed in any convenient location.

\Vhile the door I) is closed, the circuit 1 is opened at the break between springs e and e. \Vhen the door is open to its fullest extent, its outer portion strikes the spring 6 and presses it against the spring 6, thus closing the circuit of the magnet 01. Later the armature 0 comes into contact with the poles of magnet d and, the magnet being excited, is securely'held.

The operation of the thermostat g by heat or of the switch h manually by interrupting the circuit 1 deprives the magnet d of its magnetism and permits spring I) to close the door.

If the door I) be of iron, no separate armature 0 will be necessary.

In arranging a system of door-closing appliances for operating a number of different doors I prefer to employ the arrangement shown in Fig. 2. The battery-circuit 1 is divided into diiferent parallel branches 2 8 4, &c. Each branch includes an electromagnet cl, controlling a door, any suitable number of thermostats g, and a switch h. The general circuit 1 mayinclude also thermostats g and a manual-switch key 7i. Any particular magnet d is thus controlled by the thermostats in the branch with it and also by the thermostats and switch in the circuit 1.

The utilityof such a system in a large building will be obvious. The doors controlled by magnets (Z may be in fire walls or partitions of the building. Near each door may be placed a number of thermostats gin the same branch with the electromagnet controlling the door. In the event of fire the thermostats in the burning portion of the building may operate to close only the doors to isolate that compartment, or the general switches g or h may be opened, whereby all the doors connected with that circuit will be simultaneously closed. The same mechanism might of course be used to maintain the closed position of doors or shutters provided with weights or springs tending to open them.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination with a movable door, of an armature carried thereby, a fixed electromagnet adapted to hold said armature, and an electric circuit through said electromagnet including a source of current, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a movable door and a device tending to move the said door into an open or closed position, of an armature carried by the door, a fixed electromagnet adapted to hold the armature in opposition to said device, and an electric circuit including the electromagnet, together with a source of current, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a door,-of a device tending to close the said door, an armature carried by the door, a fixed electromagnet adapted to hold the armature, an electric circuit including the said magnet together with a source of current, and a thermostatic switch adapted to interrupt the current through the magnet when heated, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a door, of means for closing the said door, a device adapted to retain the door open when electrically excited, and a switch controlled by the door, to be closed when the door is opened, in circuit with said device, whereby waste of energy in the circuit is prevented.

5. The combination with several doors,each provided with means adapted to close it, an armature carried by the door, and a fixed electromagnet adapted to hold the armature to retain the door in an open position, of an electric circuit divided into parallel branches, each of which includes one of said electromagnets, a thermostat in each of said branches adapted to open the circuit when heated, and a switch in the circuit to interrupt the current through all the branches, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 7th day of April, A. D. 1896.

CHARLES E. SCRIBNER.

\Vitnesses:

ELLA EDLER, LUCILE RUSSELL. 

